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| 90. Tour de France 2003 - final | |
| Lenght | 20 stages, 3350 km |
| Tour winner | Lance Armstrong 83:41:12 h |
| 2nd | Jan Ullrich +1:01 min |
| 3rd | Alexandre Vinokourov +4:14 min |
| Green Jersey | Baden Cooke 216 P. |
| 2nd | Robbie McEwen 214 P. |
| 3rd | Thor Hushovd 188 P. |
| King of the Mountains | Richard Virenque 324 P. |
| 2nd | Laurent Dufaux 187 P. |
| 3rd | Lance Armstrong 168 P. |
| White Jersey | Denis Menchov 84:00:56h |
| 2nd | Mikel Astarloza +42:29 min |
| 3rd | Juan Miguel Mercado +1:02:48 h |
The Tour de France of 2003 started and ended in Paris. Lasting from July 5 to July 27 the race covered 3,350 km, proceeding clockwise in twenty stages around France, including six major mountain stages.
In the centenary year of the race the route recreated, in part, that of 1903. There was a special Centenaire Classement prize for the best-placed in each of the six stage finishes which match the 1903 tour - Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nantes and Paris. It was won by Stuart O'GradyStuart O'Grady is an Australian cyclist, born 6 August, 1973 in Adelaide, South Australia. Olympics Stuart O'Grady successfully teamed with Graeme Brown to win a gold medal with 22 points in the Madison cycling event at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens..
Of the 198 riders the favorite was again Lance Armstrong, aiming for a record equalling fifth win. Before the race, it was believed that his main rivals would include Iban MayoIban Mayo Diez (born August 19, 1977, in Igorre, in the Basque region of Spain) is a professional bicycle racer. Renowned as a powerful climber, Mayo turned pro with the Euskaltel team in 2000, and has become one of the Basque Country's top prospects for, Aitor Gonzalez , Tyler HamiltonThis article is about the cyclist. For the Canadian Idol contestant, see Tyler Hamilton (musician). Tyler Hamilton (born March 1, 1971 in Marblehead, Massachusetts) became a professional bicycle racer in 1995, and rode for the U. Postal Service (USPS) Tea, Ivan BassoIvan Basso (born November 26, 1977) is a cyclist from Gallarate, Italy. He is currently part of the Danish CSC team. In the 2002 edition of the Tour de France, Basso won the white jersey, the award presented to the rider best-placed in the general classif, Gilberto Simoni and Jan Ullrich, but Armstrong was odds-on favorite.
The Tour proved to be one more hotly contested than the previous years, but in the end it was indeed Armstrong who won. Tyler Hamilton and Levi Leipheimer were involved in a crash early in the Tour. Leipheimer dropped out, Hamilton continued and got fourth place in the end while riding with what was believed to be a broken collarbone.
In the Alps, Gilberto Simoni and Stefano Garzelli, first and second in the Giro d'Italia earlier the same year, could not keep up with Lance Armstrong and the other favorites. The same held for last year's number 4, Santiago Botero. Joseba Beloki could, but then crashed and had to leave the Tour. Armstrong was in yellow, but Jan Ullrich won the first time trial, one minute ahead of Armstrong, and Alexandre Vinokourov and he were both within very short distance from Armstrong.
Armstrong did however withstand the attacks in the end, and took his fifth Tour de France in row, thereby equalling the record of Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Induráin. Before him, only Induráin had won in five consecutive years.